Latest News

Pacific Steel and Recycling is scheduled to start construction July 1 on a new landfill for automobile waste 7 miles north of Billings after receiving approval from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

DEQ signed off on the 320-acre project despite protests from surrounding landowners concerned about possible toxic runoff from debris, air pollution, fire risks, decreased home values and increased traffic along Highway 87. More than 350 comments were received on the proposal.

It felt like they were getting somewhere. Anellise Deters and her Shepherd neighbors persuaded state regulators to tap the brakes on permitting an automobile waste landfill in their area.

Anellise Deters was nothing short of shocked Monday, January 22, when she was told by the Billings City Attorney’s Office that she would have to pay $6,929 to fulfill a public records request she filed nearly three months ago.

Montana environmental regulators took heat this week for initially giving the public just 10 days to weigh in on a proposed landfill near Shepherd — seemingly at the request of the developer.

The public notice Shepherd residents received about a landfill being proposed for their neighborhood indicated they had had just 10 days to respond, before state regulators advanced the permitting process.

A great deal of animosity was evident Thursday, November 21, from the Shepherd community at a public meeting regarding the idea of Pacific Steel & Recycling (PSR) building a repository to store scrap metal waste near the corner of U.S. Highway 87 North and Shepherd Acton Road.

At the open discussion for the Yellowstone County Commissioners meeting, residents from near where [Shepherd, MT] the proposed repository would sit expressed their concerns about the potential monofill.

Pacific Steel and Recycling has been working on plans for this new facility that would process what’s currently discarded as waste from their recycling process. The proposed repository would store that auto shredder residue or A.S.R. material, which looks like finely ground dirt. It can consist of materials like dirt, rubber, paint, glass and other materials.

Three Yellowstone County
residents take umbrage with a statement made by Pacific Steel & Recycling in their support documents seeking approval to build a repository. The company wrote, “The immediate area surrounding the proposed repository area is sparsely populated and the local residents will become accustomed to the noise, traffic, and odor associated with routine operations."

Locals gathered in the high school’s gym to hear from representatives of the Department of Environmental Quality and Pacific Recycling & Steel regarding a proposed landfill they want to build.

However, they were met with some strong resistance. (View Echo Reports in "Enforcement & Compliance" page in site menu above)

“The design that they do have and the proposal that they do have is very incomplete and inconsistent,” said Shepherd resident Anellise Deters.

In Shepherd, a proposed landfill is the focus of discussion among many in the community, and the D.E.Q. is hosting a public meeting to clarify, and answer citizens' concerns.

A private landfill for shredded car waste, which would be located a few miles east of the Billings Heights, will get a public meeting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is extending a public commenting period for a proposed auto shredder residue repository, which is ruffling feathers for area landowners and residents in Shepherd.

The public comment period for Pacific Steel & Recycling's proposed licensing and development of a repository near Shepherd will end November 30.

Today's article should rile up the guy who accused me of being against everything. We were contacted by a lady who is leading the charge to make sure that they don't get a new dump out in the Shepherd area.

(Please note that our Facebook group changed to "Stop the Shepherd Landfill"

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has published a draft environmental assessment for an application from Pacific Steel and Recycling, Great Falls, Montana, for the construction of a Class II landfill for auto shredder residue in Yellowstone County.

Pacific Steel and Recycling has applied to the Department of Environmental Quality to construct a landfill for auto shredder residue.

Auto shredder residue, or ASR, is composed of waste such as plastics, rubber, foam, textiles, paper, trace metals, PVC-wrapped wires and glass that can’t be separated for recycling. One study estimated about 20% to 25% of a vehicle’s mass would end up as ASR.

Pacific Steel & Recycling is looking to the future. In doing so, the company has announced plans to add a $2 million to $3 million repository to support its operation in Lockwood, one that will serve for decades to come.